Life After Love
by Babyface2216
Summary: I didn't think I would ever have to learn to love again. Now that the love is gone, what is life after? Empty. Cold. Lonely. Bitter. Do you believe in life after love?


"No Davey" I sighed pushing through the doorway into the Impact Zone, wanting to just get in my locker room and hide from everyone and everything until it was my turn for segments. "Come on Rita, you haven't done anything since...I get that this is really hard on you but it's been months. It's time to get back out there." The older man finally said it pulling me to a dead stop in the middle of the hallway, several people stopping to stare at us. "Jesus Christ David. Don't you think I get that? Don't you think I WANT to be happy like you and Ang. Because I do, it would be amazing to be happy again but it really doesn't seem like that's going to happen anytime soon." I paused with a deep breath "I'm not strong enough Davey, he was my life. And now he's gone like I was dog shit on the bottom of a cheap pair of sneakers. It's not easy to rebound from a feeling like this" I shrugged spinning on my heel and continuing to my locker room needing to relax and get my head on straight before my match half way through the show. Walking in I pushed the door shut behind me and dropped my bag at my feet before smacking my head into the wall twice screaming out when a familiar voice spoke up "That's not healthy for someone who's had concussions" Angelina piped up "I swear I just peed myself. Thanks for that" I growled a hand to my chest as I got my heartbeat under control. "Sorry, I figured you had seen me" she shrugged making me roll my eyes as I plopped onto the couch beside her. "I'm so out of it." I sighed leaning my head back and shutting my eyes willing my mind to clear of everything but wrestling. "Maybe you should go out and relax" she suggested making me groan loudly in annoyance "I take it you talked to Davey already?" she sighed "I wanted to talk to you first so you'd freak on him" she muttered as an afterthought making me snort "I freaked on him anyway." I informed, eyes still shut. "I will tell you word for word what I told him. Don't you think I get that? Don't you think I WANT to be happy like you and Davey. Because I do, it would be amazing to be happy again but it really doesn't seem like that's going to happen anytime soon. I'm not strong enough Ang, he was my life. And now he's gone like I was dog shit on the bottom of a cheap pair of sneakers. It's not easy to rebound from a feeling like this." I repeated switching a few words obviously since I was talking to her and not Davey. "Well...alright then...I'll just see you later" she sighed getting to her feet and finally leaving me alone like I wanted.

"Hey Rita can I talk to you?" Eddie's voice rang out as the door popped open and shut while I was touching up my appearance for my ring segment in 20 minutes. "Are you gonna say the same shit Davey and Angelina did?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest as I looked the man over, honestly enjoying the sight of him in jeans, sneakers and shirtless with a hat on his head. "Um...maybe? Did they ask you to come out tonight?" he said slowly already scratching at the back of his neck like I've noticed he does when he's nervous, how and when I figured that out I don't know. "Yupp" I sighed popping the p at the end of the word "Oh well...sorry for wasting your time then, good luck out there tonight" he murmured with a shrug turning to leave. "Eddie wait" I called my mouth moving faster than my brain, I'm pretty sure something other than my brain was in control at the moment "Yeah?" he asked a small flicker of excitement in his eyes at being called back by me when so many others had been pushed to leave. "If I go" I paused "IF" I stressed again "Promise you guys won't just ditch me at the table or whatever?" I asked softly rocking back and forth slightly as I waited for his answer. "I won't speak for Angel and Davey but IF" he stressed if the same way I had making me smile slightly "If you come out tonight I promise I won't ditch you" he promised smiling slightly making me release a deep exhale "Alright...I'll come out tonight" I whispered "I'm sorry what?" he asked, his smile growing until it reached his eyes "Oh my god" I whined "I'll go out with you tonight." I said louder squealing when he picked me up in a hug and spun me around happily. "Thank you" he grinned, his arms still around me but at least my feet were planted firmly on the ground this time. "Good luck tonight" he repeated leaning down and planting his lips directly on top of mine before he took off leaving me slack jawed and confused alone in my locker room. "Rita, you're up in 5" a techie called through my door snapping me out of my haze and sending me out of my locker room and to the curtain. Taking a deep breath I got into character as my theme song pounded throughout the impact zone, cuing me to head out to the ring and interrupt Maria.

 _"_ _Maria" I sighed biting my lower lip provocatively as I winked at some fan in the front row on my way into the ring. "I am SO sick of hearing you whine, bitch and complain about how you don't get your way" I snarled stepping toe to toe with the brunette who gasped in faux shock. "If you want to complain about not being Champ, about not getting matches, about not getting attention. You better get the fuck to the back of the line because I know for damn sure there's a long line of Knockouts who deserve more than you that have been here a hell of a lot longer." I continued having to pause because I was drowned out by the fans cheering. "YOU! Need to shut your mouth. I AM the FIRST LADY of PROFFESSIONAL WRESTLING and I am the leader of the Knockouts division. I OWN ALL OF YOU" She screeched making me cringe slightly since I was still standing so close to her. "I am better than you will ever be" she added softer but still annoyingly screechy "I deserve to be KNOCKOUTS CHAMPION" she yelled again making me huff slightly "You haven't had a single match and you've been here for almost 4 months." I paused smirking darkly "You hardly deserve to stand on the lighted street corners, Knockouts champion is only in your dreams." I laughed, my laugh getting cut short as she slapped me across the face. The entire arena went silent as they waited and they didn't have to wait long as I dropped the microphone and tackled her hissing as her nails slashed across my cheek before she pushed me off and rolled from the ring straight into the arms of her husband who had just ran down the ramp. Picking up the microphone I got to my feet and leaned on the ropes closest to them pulling my skirt back into place with my free hand, thanking god and all of his friends that I had chosen to throw bottoms on underneath. "Maria, I'll make you a deal. You face me in a match, any match YOU want. If I win, I get a shot at the Knockouts Championship, if you win...you can do whatever you want with me." I bargained holding my free hand to my bleeding cheek hoping beyond all hope that it wouldn't scar. "I want you in a No Disqualification, no count out match. If I win, YOU'RE FIRED" she screamed before they disappeared behind the curtain. Slipping from the ring I made my way up slower pushing through the curtain only to get pulled into Angelina's arms._

"Are you okay?" she asked tilting my head so the injured cheek was closer to her face "I'm fine Ang, I just want to go get cleaned up and change before this turns uglier" I said quickly almost pushing her towards my locker room thankful when she moved so I could head for the bathroom and wiped up the dripped blood and try and clean my face up. "I'm going to head back to my locker room and see if Davey is ready to head out...I'll see you eventually" she sighed heading out of the locker room and leaving me to change back into my previous clothes glaring into the mirror at my face as I debated finding Eddie and telling him I had changed my mind. "You're still going out with me." His voice suddenly sounded making me shriek loudly in fright for the second time of the night. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" he laughed loudly not sounding sorry at all as I glared at him through the bathroom mirror. "Come on. I have your bags" he added showing the duffle bag already on his arm. Sighing and nodding I decided it was time to buck up and do this so I shut off the lights and followed him out, through the hallways and over to his parked car. "So we'll park at the hotel and then walk down the block to that club, I mean if it's alright with you of course, we could stay at the hotel bar if you want" he started to ramble, it was actually kind of cute and made me smile. "Eddie, relax." I intervened setting my hand on top of his which had been resting on the middle console palm up. "I'm sorry...I just want to make sure you have fun and don't regret this later on. I would feel terrible and I'm trying to help you have fun and if I ruin tonight you'll hate me and going out for forever which would really suck because then it would mean no more dates, it would mean you'd never date me at all really." He was rambling again, his last words catching my attention the most. "You want to date me? This is a date?" I asked softly staring at him in slight awe since I was pretty convinced no one wanted me after I had shut everyone out for the most part. "Um...well...I was hoping maybe after a couple dates you would want to give it a shot with me" he whispered back, a slight blush tinging his tan skin. "I'm sure we'll both have a great time tonight Eddie" I assured as he parked the car and then got out, running around to open my door for me, and lacing our hands together as we started down the sidewalk to the club.

"So what's your favorite color" Eddie asked as we passed through the door and immediately sat at the first booth we saw, not even bothering to search for Angel and Davey in the packed room. "Black, or gold, or blue." I shrugged "I wanted to work blue into my gear but Dixie said it looked too bruise like with how we designed all of it" I added with another shrug "What about you?" I asked leaning slightly closer so he could hear me over the loud music and people. "Red and black, I was able to incorporate it into my gear" he teased both of us pausing as a waiter walked over. "I'll take a Whiskey Coke" Eddie stated "I'll have a vodka sour and a glass of water" I added turning my attention back to Eddie. "Okay, I'll get this out of the way, how old are you" I asked chewing on my lower lip nervously waiting for his answer. "Is that going to make or break the possibility of us ever being together?" he returned answering my question with a question. "Depends, are you older or younger than me?" I returned getting increasingly nervous. "How old are you?" he questioned slowly "Obviously over 21" he pointed out as our waiter sat our drinks down and then left again "I am 25 years old, 26 in a month" I answered hoping it would lead to his answer faster. "That's not that bad I'm" he started but was interrupted "AWK!" Angelina's voice screeched as her and Davey pushed through and over to our booth "I told you it was them" she added slipping into the booth, pushing Eddie and I closer so she could make room for Davey. "Okay, it's them. They didn't want us to know they were here, maybe we should leave" Davey pointed out sitting beside his wife anyway "Oh it's fine. We'll only hang around for a little bit." Angelina threw back, I was about to say something when my phone went off. I pulled it out of my pocket and checked the screen smiling at the text message that was an unknown number, but based on the text I knew it was Eddie. *I was going to say I'm only 32. SO we're less than 6 years apart.* Typing back a message I only half listened to Angelina ramble about managements plan for The Beautiful People. #Thank god, I was getting scared you were like 40's and up.# I sent it and then typed out another #At least you'd be a hot 40 year old ;)# I sent second locking my phone and setting it face down on my lap. "Are you guys even listening?" Davey asked making both of us look at them guiltily "Honestly, no. I was texting a friend" Eddie stated, not exactly lying but not telling the total truth either. "I was on Twitter" I stated with a small shrug. "Wow...alright, maybe you were right" Davey whispered to Angelina who only nodded once "Right about what?" Eddie and I both asked at the same time, looking at each other with wide eyes.

"Well I was pretty sure you guys were here on a date, and that you guys liked each other" Davey started making me smirk slightly "But Angelina said you guys were just friends getting a drink. And that I shouldn't get my hopes up that my two best friends had fallen for each other and were gonna get married and have cute babies and grow old and happy together because otherwise they're both sad, lonely, little" he kept going, stopping suddenly and slapping his hand over his mouth. "Well...maybe you weren't exactly wrong" I sighed grabbing Eddie's hand tightly underneath the table "What Rita means is we were on a date, and were talking about the possibility of there being more in the future" Eddie continued both Davey and Angelina's eyes going wide "We may have even talked about trying the whole dating each other thing" I added blushing slightly to which Eddie squeezed my hand lightly making me smile "So we...OH, well...we'll see you guys later yeah? Okay" Davey grinned literally pulling Angelina from the booth and away again leaving Eddie and I alone once more. We didn't move apart as we got back to our date, taking turns asking and answering questions to get to know each other better. "You wanna head out? Bars closing up soon" he sighed, his fingers twisting slightly in my blonde hair as we talked "Sure" I smiled sliding from the booth and grabbing his hand as soon as he stood up. The walk back to the hotel was quiet but comfortable as the slightly chilly early morning air whipped around us, disappearing as we entered the hotel and made the short ride up the elevator to our floor. "This is mine" I whispered stopping in front of my hotel room and unlocking the door but not going inside. "Okay, last question" Eddie smirked bracing his arms on either side of my door. "Okay" I smiled leaning against the partially open door waiting for him. "Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked softly gripping the door jamb so hard his knuckles were white. Smirking and feeling brave, I took his hat off his head and flipped it so the bill was in the back before I leaned in and pressed a short kiss to his lips, no tongue just a sweet peck. "I get one more question now" I whispered chewing on my lip nervously "Will you come in and watch a movie or two with your girlfriend" I asked just as quietly as he had. "Really?" he asked in shock, I could only nod back, a giggle bursting from my lips as he smiled widely and pushed us both into my hotel room. "Yes ma'am" he smirked closing the door behind him while I kicked off my shoes and got a movie started, cuddling up to him as soon as he sat on the couch. "Thank you" I whispered leaning up to kiss his lips briefly again "My pleasure" he returned just as quietly with a slightly longer kiss before we turned our attention to the movie, both happy with how the night had turned out.


End file.
